Stage 20 TDF : Saint-Etienne ITT : Spoiler



A very enjoyable tour de france.

Great coverage from Paris today : great win for Vino.

LA got his seventh title : the era moves on.
 
limerickman said:
A very enjoyable tour de france.

Great coverage from Paris today : great win for Vino.

LA got his seventh title : the era moves on.

For those of us that are ....well, past our best years,I don't believe we will see another run such as we have witnessed with Armstrong.
Ah well...life goes on.
 
I'm starting to get the idea that Armstrong is a pretty good athlete. Its hard to fault his performance this year.

There seems to be quite a group of contenders for next years T de F.
 
What I thought was interesting was the strategy between Lance and Johan to win the Tour.... it was 2 good time trails and one attack..... that’s what they put winning down to.... when you think about it its a very simple strategy and it worked !


mitosis said:
I'm starting to get the idea that Armstrong is a pretty good athlete. Its hard to fault his performance this year.

There seems to be quite a group of contenders for next years T de F.
 
whiteboytrash said:
What I thought was interesting was the strategy between Lance and Johan to win the Tour.... it was 2 good time trails and one attack..... that’s what they put winning down to.... when you think about it its a very simple strategy and it worked !
Good point -- although I think there's something to be said for the art of riding defensively as well. As you just pointed out, Armstrong really only went "on the offensive" a few times during the Tour, but on the other hand, he made a caclulation as to who his chief rivals would be (Jan and Ivan) and never allowed either one of them to get in front of him by more than a few bike-lengths. In fact, I think it's a testament to Lance/Bruyneel's talent as strategists that neither Ullrich or Basso ever gained so much as a single second on Armstrong on the finish of any stage.

Vino, of course, is the other side of the coin -- a "go for broke", emotional, risk-taking rider, I like him for the excitement he brings to the Tour, but I wonder what he might be able to accomplish as a more "boring" rider with a well-constructed team supporting him. Bruyneel says Vino doesn't have what it takes to win a TdF -- I would have to disagree. Vino has proven to be a powerful climber, a serviceable time-trialist, and he can even power to the front of a stage and hold off the sprinters on occasion. With the proper support and with perhaps a more judicious use of his physical reserves, he'd be very, very tough to beat.
 

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